Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:15-35 (day three)
“Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven.”
How much weight do the decisions and actions of the community of Jesus’s disciples carry? Jesus says that these decisions and actions invite heaven’s presence and power into circumstances, or they close off the channels of heaven’s presence and power into circumstances. Jesus once told the Pharisees that they shut the door of the kingdom in people’s faces – that “you yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” This is of a piece with what Jesus says here. The stumbling blocks, the barricades, the willful blindness to heaven’s activity in the lives of people – these indicate a hellish conspiracy and collusion to prevent lost people from finding life. A church can represent the kingdom of God on earth. A church can also bolt the door.
Thanks Bryan. Strangely enough we still have churches who want to add works to the requirements for salvation. I appreciate and love the strong stance you take on Scriptural truth.